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    On the Edge: On Assignment with Jiggy Manicad
    On the Edge: On Assignment with Jiggy Manicad
    On the Edge: On Assignment with Jiggy Manicad
    Ebook186 pages1 hour

    On the Edge: On Assignment with Jiggy Manicad

    By Jiggy Manicad

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    About this ebook

    On The Edge is a compilation of twenty of the news reports by one of GMA News and Public Affairs’ award-winning broadcast journalists, Mr. Jiggy Manicad. The book features Mr. Manicad’s coverage of some of the most relevant and controversial local and international events.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAnvil Publishing, Inc.
    Release dateNov 15, 2017
    ISBN9786214201174
    On the Edge: On Assignment with Jiggy Manicad

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      Book preview

      On the Edge - Jiggy Manicad

      MANICAD

      I. INSIDE AFGHANISTAN

      One day at the GMA newsroom, Ms. Jessica Soho saw me watching something about the war that had just started in Afghanistan. We talked for a while and I pitched the idea of deploying a news team to check the situation in that country where Osama Bin Laden was also suspected to be hiding.

      What started as an idea was realized when I was informed that I will be sent to Afghanistan. I was very excited to be given this assignment as it was something that I considered a huge international story at that time.

      Three of us were given this task, cameraman Jun Fronda, and fellow reporter Raffy Tima.

      The day finally came when I was going to leave. I was in a flight to Dubai that will connect at Islamabad. As soon as we landed in Islamabad, we touched base with other reporters, especially Filipinos working for foreign press organizations.

      From Pakistan, we had to cross the Khyber Pass to reach Afghanistan.

      Our guide led us to some people who would facilitate our entry to Afghanistan. I remember this group asked for three thousand US dollars for us to be allowed entry. It was a big amount! Even news teams from Korea, Japan, the United States, and other countries had no choice but to pay.

      Soon after this, we were asked to board our service vehicle. It was a pick-up truck. There were many passengers so I sat at the back bed of the pick-up the entire time, three hours of travel time, until we reached Jalalabad. The second largest city in eastern Afghanistan, Jalalabad is also considered the center for social and business activity. At that time, there were reports that Bin Laden was hiding in the Tora Bora mountains located also in eastern Afghanistan. There were even unconfirmed reports saying that some roads going to the city were planted with explosives. We had to be more careful.

      As a young journalist assigned to tell the story about an important international news, I was getting ready to document the story and I was determined to deliver it the best I could.

      Doing a stand-upper in the streets of Jalalabad and our means of transport while in the city.

      It was already past midnight when we arrived at the hotel. I was told that the hotel used to be just a house occupied by members of the Taliban. We were given security personnel who were former Taliban members who surrendered to the government. Our guide and translator was a young man who would later become our friend. His name is Zabi.

      Helping me out with our stories, was our translator, Zabi. After we left Afghanistan, I learned that he became a translator for the United Nations contingent. Since then, I never heard from him.

      The next day, other reporters and I met to plan our itinerary for the day. We decided to visit the airport that was bombed and the ammunition dump hit by precision guided missiles.

      Former Taliban fighters secured us while we were in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

      Our first stop was the ammunition dump. The depot was located at a police compound. According to reports, sixteen were killed and 200 others were wounded after the explosion. Our next stop was the Jalalabad airport, where a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device was set up by the Taliban, killing 32 security forces. I remember going around these places and telling their stories. I remember reporting about the heavy damage in Afghanistan after the United States under George W. Bush administration promised to wipe out Al-Qaeda and exterminate Osama bin Laden, founder of the organization al-Qaeda that claimed responsibility for the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US.

      The ammunition dump unloaded by the US military. Photo also shows what was left of the military equipment and the airport hit by suicide bombers.

      On our third day, three foreign journalists from our group were killed by the Taliban.

      We were all in the media center when three bodies in caskets were delivered in front of our doorstep. We were told that our fellow journalists were shooting somewhere when Taliban members approached them asking for their money and belongings. The journalists would not part with their cameras, which was reason enough for the rebels to shoot them.

      One of the three bodies of foreign journalists, who were robbed and killed by the Taliban.

      The group, led by the Associated Press, decided that it was not safe for everyone to remain in Afghanistan and that we had to evacuate immediately.

      When I went to Afghanistan, I was feeling invigorated and keen to report everything that I would encounter. I must admit, however, that when the three dead bodies were delivered to us, I suddenly became fearful for our lives. I realized that getting into a war zone requires a journalist to be prepared in all aspects. It was more challenging than I had ever expected.

      Physical, emotional, mental and spiritual preparedness can help in overcoming high-pressure crisis situations, especially when you are far away from home.

      In war, the kids are always victims.

      II. THE DAWN OF WAR IN IRAQ

      Coming from my coverage in Afghanistan, it was expected of me to pitch to the news department a story that was starting to grab the world headlines—the possibility of war in Iraq.

      In 2003, I was deployed in Iraq two weeks prior to the war. I was tasked to survey their situation and bring stories about the lives of Iraqis at the wake of the war.

      I was with fellow journalists Mike Enriquez, who is also an executive for GMA Network’s radio arm DZBB, and documentarist Howie Severino. Mang Mike focused on other journalists covering the war, while Howie did a documentary about Iraqis getting married despite the impending war.

      We were also with our cameramen Gregg Gonzales and Bodjie Sonza; and satellite engineer Dennis Mariano. At this time, GMA News believed that the war would have worldwide effect since the United States is considered a superpower and Iraq holds the world’s fifth largest oil reserves.

      Preparations on a coverage like this one was quite in-depth. We had to study our maps, learn the culture, plot the exit points and be ready with the much needed supplies like food and medicines.

      In my case, I went the extra mile. While in Manila, I tried to get inside the military of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. So I tried hardest to establish a contact with one of his trusted aides. We traveled from Manila to Dubai and from there we went straight to Amman, Jordan. We stayed in Jordan for a while to settle and plan for our trip to Baghdad, Iraq which is almost a thousand kilometers away.

      Structures built by Saddam Hussein were all over Baghdad. Prior to the war, banners expressing support for their leader were everywhere.

      Together with the team of Grace Princesa, then Philippine Ambassador to Iraq, we traveled by land overnight. When we finally arrived at our destination, we were immediately assigned a minder from the Information Ministry of the Iraqi government. The minder’s role was to report all our moves to the government. All our activities were calculated in this country. It was a counter-espionage measure, and I figured that it must be because of the

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